An emerging area of interest in the field of computer networking is the “Internet of Things” (IoT), which may be used by those in the art to refer to uniquely identifiable objects/things and their virtual representations in a network-based architecture. In particular, the next frontier in the evolution of the Internet is the ability to connect more than just computers and communications devices, but rather the ability to connect “objects” in general, such as lights, appliances, vehicles, window shades and blinds, doors, locks, etc.
As more non-traditional devices join the IoT, networks may eventually evolve from a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) model to a model that enables bring-your-own-thing (BYOT), bring-your-own-interface (BYOI), and/or bring-your-own-service (BYOS) paradigms. In other words, as the IoT grows, the number of available services, etc., will also grow considerably. For example, a single person in the future may transport sensor-equipped clothing, other portable electronic devices (e.g., cell phones, etc.), cameras, pedometers, or the like, into an enterprise environment, each of which may attempt to access the wealth of new IoT services that are available on the network.
From a networking standpoint, however, it will become increasingly more challenging to restrict which services, interfaces, etc. are accessible to any given network entity. Notably, as the IoT continues to expand, it becomes increasingly more challenging to predict the number and variety of things connected to the network, which are used today for purposes of implementing access control, security, performance optimizations, etc.